Let antiquity go now and show off Alexander with his high stepping stories! For him the gift of eloquent historians brought a wealth of fame, so that his praise, poor in substance, seemed to grow through the help of fecundity. The merits of our king do not require the solace of a publicist! The accomplishments of the old ones, no matter how embellished with lies, are minor compared to his genuine achievements. Poets, you fabricate great deeds but it is proper for you to admit that our present lord accomplished greater feats. The Pellean leader wished his entire praises to be composed by the services of a Choerilius, so that the multitude not catch his desire to deceive and that he who was lured into confirming his victory not become a witness to his impudence. I would detract nothing from those whom antiquity considered exceptional, had not the revival of Roman renown brought you forward. Him, his mother unaware of her error kept ignorant of true religion, but vital instruction initiated you into the worship of the highest God at the very threshold of life. Never do you accredit to your labours what an auspicious event offered you. You know that responsibility rests with you, and that God is the force responsible for your achievements. Your conduct is such, that you deserve to obtain prosperity, yet everything you gain you ascribe to your Maker. Your strength, watchfulness and good fortune show the sovereign, your clemency, the priest. What more! In vain our ancestors called those on whom the sceptres were conferred divine and pontifices. It is singular to fulfil the most sacred and not hold venerable titles! Let my king by rights be Alamannicus, but let another hold the title, so that divinely blessed he may live his life by the fruit of his conscience and not require the empty titles of pompous boasting. His character turns the sycophancy of the ancients into reality. (tr. Barbara S. Haase)